I know that Kubrick pretty much tortured Shelly Duvall, but it's not like she was giving him an equal amount of hell. Same goes for Crothers during the 70+ takes of the scene where Jack Nicolson buries an axe in his chest.

I think she was used to the looser approach of Altman and wasn't prepared for Mr. Obsessive Exacting. Nobody would "feud" with Kubrick and expect to stay in the film long. Even Nicholson was on his best behavior.

Also, would Hitchcock & Hedren really constitute a feud, or just a bizarre passive-aggressive working relationship.

What problem did Preminger have with Dunaway? Would love to head some dish on that.

O'Toole turned down Doctor Zhivago because he didn't want to work with David again. He based the psychotic director in "The Stuntman" on him.

by Anonymous

reply 7

05/22/2012

Tom Cruise vs. Stephen Spielberg at War of the Worlds

(because of him putting up a Scientology tent on set and giving Stephen and his wife advice how they should treat each other)

by Anonymous

reply 8

05/22/2012

John Frankenheimer vs. Val Kilmer

John Schlesinger vs. Madonna

by Anonymous

reply 10

05/22/2012

Don't understand the Scatman entry. I watched the dvd extras and Crothers broke into tears describing his gratitude for the opportunity to appear in the classic Kubrick film. And he did a fine job.

by Anonymous

reply 11

05/22/2012

[quote]OP, are some of the ones you mention truly "feuds?"

Did you not read the link? I didn't write the list; the writer at Flavorwire did.

by Anonymous

reply 12

05/22/2012

That's not why he was crying, R11.

by Anonymous

reply 13

05/22/2012

BABULA VS BABULA ON "YENTL". I told you she is a totally insane.

by Anonymous

reply 14

05/22/2012

They are HotHeads

by Anonymous

reply 15

05/22/2012

"David Lean vs Peter O'Toole"

Lean became one cold SOB. I don't think he and Judy Davis got along well during A PASSAGE TO INDIA, and even Alec Guiness had enough of Lean's dismissive attitude during that film.

by Anonymous

reply 16

05/22/2012

Cukor, Houston, Hawks, Preminger, Marilyn didn't seem to get along with anybody.

IIRC, when filming wrapped on "Suddenly, Last Summer," Hepburn spat in Mankiewicz' face for treating Clift so badly.

by Anonymous

reply 17

05/22/2012

Everyone and Faye Dunaway.

by Anonymous

reply 18

05/22/2012

I was going to list David Lean vs. Judy Davis on the set of PASSAGE TO INDIA. That's one of my all-time favorites.

Lean was famous for bullying his actors and screaming at them and reducing them to tears, but the first time he tried it on Judy Davis she decided she'd have absolutely none of that, so she turned the tables on him. She started telling him he was too thick to understand E. M. Forster's novel and didn't get the real point of it (which in a weird way was true). It profoundly rattled him--no one had ever pushed back with him quite so successfully before.

by Anonymous

reply 19

05/22/2012

Here you go #13, since you seem to be confused (at the 8:21 mark).

by Anonymous

reply 20

05/22/2012

The link at r20 is indeed of a grateful actor. Is that the link you meant to post?

R22 I read somewhere Cukor said the something along those lines to an actress as well. Something like, "your motivation is walk across the room and put your ass in that chair".

by Anonymous

reply 23

05/22/2012

Barbra Streisand vs. Frank Pierson was an ugly feud, culminating in a nasty tell-all written by Pierson which portrayed Streisand in a very ugly light. This was while filming A Star Is Born, and Barbra was undoubtedly being guided by the Machiavellian Peters at the time. Other directors have enjoyed her intelligence: Sidney Pollack, Martin Ritt, Herbert Ross and Vincent Minnelli, among others, all said they enjoyed working with her.

by Anonymous

reply 25

05/22/2012

Lily Tomlin v. David O Russell (I Heart Huckabees)

by Anonymous

reply 26

05/22/2012

True that Davis and Wyler fought like hellcats, but they truly loved and respected each other. In her later years, after Wyler was dead, Davis said he was the love of her life.

Clift was in poor shape after a car accident while filming "Suddenly, Last Summer," right? Was he also drinking or drugging? Was it supposed to be his comeback?

In any case, Mankiewicz reportedly treated him like dirt and his close friend Taylor and the old pro Hepburn were disgusted (as someone posted above, Kate made a scene when it was finally over).

Ironically, it is one of Elizabeth Taylor's best performances--her breakdown confessional near the end is tremendous.

by Anonymous

reply 29

05/22/2012

Marlon Brando and Frank Oz on the set of a film I can't remember. Brando refused to address Oz by his name and would refer to him as 'Miss Piggy.'

by Anonymous

reply 30

05/22/2012

Woody Allen & Kenneth Branagh; Roman Polanski & John Cassavetes... I guess directors don't like being told what to do.

by Anonymous

reply 31

05/22/2012

I wonder which line in The Letter she meant.

by Anonymous

reply 32

05/22/2012

More, please!

by Anonymous

reply 34

05/22/2012

Ask Peter Chelsohm about a career derailed by Warren Beatty.

by Anonymous

reply 35

05/22/2012

r32, it was the line about still loving the man she killed.

by Anonymous

reply 36

05/22/2012

Keanu Reeves and Joe Charbanic from The Watcher. Keanu said he was ask to have a small part and agreed but then he realized he was cast as the killer. The film was shot After The Matrix had been released. Keanu turned on Joe. Joe had been a friend and drug buddie to Reeves. Reeves refused to let them use his image to promote the film.

Afterwards, Charbanic had no career, even though the film had turned out pretty well, staring James Spader.

by Anonymous

reply 37

05/22/2012

Re: Fox and Bay. It wasn't really a feud at the Kinski/Herzog creative level (although I think Herzog is a sadistic fraud).

I watched the blu-ray behind the scenes for Trans2 the other day. It was fucking hilarious.

Bay was a total douchebag to Fox, and you could tell she was too young to handle it.

She wouldn't fuck him, so he took it out on her on set. She retaliated by fucking everyone but him, and they had literal high school level on set whining fights as a result.

I read he was petulant, but this was unbelievable.

Fox was whiny too, (Are you going to throw thaaat on me? It's hooot, etc.) but he actually would imitate her and threaten to paddle her ass like a creepy father.

The scary part is you could see by the edits that the worst parts were cut.

I heard how bad he was (without anyone providing details), and I thought he was a real Cameron level dictator.

To see that he's actually a vapid Valley Girl who literally whines on set was funny to me.

Obviously, TPTB are propping him up.

I really, really hope Pain & Gain tanks. That was his baby, and he has no one to point fingers at when it fails. I read the non-fiction article on which it's based, and it's a complicated adaptation.

by Anonymous

reply 41

05/22/2012

Any one know of a place to read details of the Kubrick/Sheeley Duvall relationship?

by Anonymous

reply 42

05/22/2012

Kevin Smith and Linda Fiorentino on "Dogma" and Barry Sonenfeld and Linda Fiorentino on "Men in Black".

There's a reason Linda's career imploded.

by Anonymous

reply 43

05/22/2012

R42, there is a behind-the-scenes doc on the making of "The Shining" where they go at it. Long story short, she was the first person cast and ended up waiting over a year for filming to start. Kubrick was buddy-buddy with Nicholson, but drove Duvall to nervous exhaustion with multiple long takes and mental undermining. The scene with the baseball bat on the stairs went to 170 full takes. Her hair started falling out. That said, nicholson also had to do all those takes too, so maybe Duvall is just a head case.

by Anonymous

reply 45

05/22/2012

I think great directors have to sometimes push actresses to go to those extremes.

by Anonymous

reply 46

05/22/2012

Kubrick was a total asshole.

by Anonymous

reply 47

05/22/2012

I don't remember the film, but one of Val Kilmer's directors hated him SO MUCH that the director didn't hesitate to bad-mouth Kilmer everywhere afterwards, even to the press.

by Anonymous

reply 48

05/22/2012

Wasn't that Joel Schumacher who bad-mouthed Kilmer after Batman?

by Anonymous

reply 49

05/22/2012

>>>What problem did Preminger have with Dunaway? Would love to head some dish on that.

Why don't you try reading the article at the link?

by Anonymous

reply 50

05/22/2012

Otto Preminger and Linda Darnell. Darnell HATED Preminger ;Mankiewicz-who adored Darnell-- used a picture of Preminger in a frame to get a disgusted reaction from Darnell in "A Letter to Three Wives."

Ava Gardner didn't like Mank. either.

by Anonymous

reply 51

05/22/2012

Wasn't it John Frankenheimer who really clashed with Kilmer? (on The Island of Dr. Moreau?) Schumacher only bad mouthed him after they split on the next film and Clooney took over.

by Anonymous

reply 52

05/23/2012

I don't think anybody's liked working with Kilmer - he's quite the diva.

by Anonymous

reply 53

05/23/2012

DL Fave Jake Gyllenhaal hated working with notorious perfectionist David Fincher on "Zodiac". The little princess whined about it in a NYT article.

"Was our favorite doe-eyed actor too sensitive to work with perfectionist Fincher? Or is Fincher a cruel taskmaster who borders on sadism? Gyllenhaal recounted Fincher's less-than-friendly digital directing style. "We'd do a lot of takes, and he'd turn, and he would say, because he had a computer there, 'Delete the last 10 takes,' according to Gyllenhaal. "And as an actor, that's very hard to hear."

With Fincher, there were always plenty of takes to delete. "You get a take, five takes, 10 takes, some places 90 takes," the actor said. "But there is a stopping point."

Fincher's response to Gyllenhaal's critique didn't help: "I hate earnestness in performance," he said. "Usually by take 17 the earnestness is gone." The director later admitted that his approach was, according to Gawker, "a Pavlovian experiment in talent manipulation" -- one designed to drive Gyllenhaal to tears."

by Anonymous

reply 54

05/23/2012

Willy Wyler made Olivia deHavilland carry a suitcase loaded with heavy books up a staircase 40 times until he got the look of exhaustion and defeat he wanted in her face in The Heiress.

by Anonymous

reply 55

05/23/2012

To be fair to Mankiewicz Clift goes through Suddenly Last Summer like a zombie ...

another great feud was Cukor with French actress Anouk Aimee when she was hot for a while in the 60s and starring in Justine in 1969 which Cukor was brought in to salvage. Anouk though had no interest in acting then as she was getting involved with Albert Finney - they married for several years when she gave up acting and only returned with the marriage was over. So she and Cukor just did not get on during the film, he loathed her with a vengance as she took no notice of his directing.

I think she had a fling with Ryan O'Neal which ended the marriage to Finney, I trust it was worth it.

by Anonymous

reply 56

05/23/2012

Brando had no patience with Kilmer...told him that he wasn't nearly as talented as he thought he was. The director of Island of Dr. ?? really hated Kilmer.

by Anonymous

reply 57

05/23/2012

I wish Frank "One Take Only" Sinatra would have had a chance to work with either Kubrick or Fincher!

by Anonymous

reply 58

05/23/2012

Bette Davis got in terrible fights with many of her directors right to the very end--she fought bitterly with Lindsay Anderson on the set of "tTe Whales of August." Her co-star Lillian Gish dealt with all of Davis's on-set melodramatics simply by turning off her hearing aid, which has always made me smile (though it made Davis all the more furious, since she always wanted an audience for her tantrums).

by Anonymous

reply 59

05/23/2012

For R42 re: Shelley Duvall and Stanley Kubrick:

[quote]To watch the âThe Making of the Shining featureâ that comes with the DVD (which I highly recommend you do so) it is very clear to see the contrasting relationships between the director and lead star Jack Nicholson who appear to connect on a deep emotional and professional level and the cold contact between Kubrick and lead actress Shelley Duvall which is more reminiscent of a bullying professor and his overemotional student. Kubrick is belittling, patronising and at times downright rude to Duvall and watching the backstage footage you really feel for her. She appears to be trying her utmost and that mean bastard director just continues to insult her. This is how it all appears at first glance.

[quote]Playing a very tough role which requires someone to reach tremendous levels of paranoia is a daunting task for Shelley or indeed another actress or actor to handle. What becomes apparent then is that Kubrick is very subtly mirroring the treatment Shelley receives at the hands of Jackâs character in the film within their real life interactions. Just as Jack begins to act curt with her on screen, Kubrick applies the same method in directing her whilst gradually becoming more and more verbally sharp and aggressive. The process is such that Shelley begins to face a similar paranoia behind the scenes as she does when the camera is rolling thus helping to make her performance appear more authentic.

by Anonymous

reply 60

05/23/2012

Meryl Streep vs Nancy Meyers on IT'S COMPLICATED.

Meyers is known as "Kubrick with a cunt" and insisted on endless takes for the most insignificant things like a cup of coffee being poured. Streep was never as unhappy as she was on that set. A few weeks after the wrap she was on Charlie Rose to promote JULIE & JULIA and when asked about the process of filming she responded " I don't quite understand why it's necessary to do something over and over and over and over and OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN." She was obviously referring to Meyers. She then basically said the same thing on 60 MINUTES last December.

During the shooting of musical numbers, Berkeley was both a severe alcoholic and mentally unstable. While shotting numbers for BABES IN ARMS, STRIKE UP THE BAND and BABES ON BROADWAY, he would scream at Garland and Rooney "GOOGLE "EM! I WANT TO SEE YOUR EYES!!!" He was especially abusive to Garland, who had him replaced by Norman Taurog on GIRL CRAZY (though Berkeley choreographed the "I've Got Rhythm" finale).

Everyone at MGM knew Garland loathed Berkeley. So who does Arthur Freed hire to direct her in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN? Busby Berkeley.

Ann Sothern was another MGM star who hated working with Berkeley. But Alice Faye had no problems with him during THE GANG'S ALL HERE.

There is a clip of Berkeley screaming in one of the Warners in-house 'blooper reels' from the late '30s.

by Anonymous

reply 62

05/23/2012

"Meyers is known as "Kubrick with a cunt"

Well, at least her end product matches his in quality.

SNORT.

by Anonymous

reply 63

05/23/2012

Gyllenhaal isn't a good enough actor to complain about a director's methods. Seeing "Zodiac", its clear Fincher may have needed even more takes with Jakeypoo.

by Anonymous

reply 64

05/23/2012

Who is Kevin Smith again?

by Anonymous

reply 65

05/23/2012

From that clip I'd say Kevin Smith is that geeky ex-director who dresses like a circus tent.

by Anonymous

reply 66

05/23/2012

Fincher is an asshole....a million takes...it's absurd. No one needs that kind of director. We all could live without Fincher and those like him.

by Anonymous

reply 67

05/23/2012

R66, he doesn't dress like a circus tent. He wears circus tents. They are the only things that fit him

by Anonymous

reply 68

05/23/2012

About Kubrick and Fincher, who both get off on doing take after take after take: hard to tell where the obsessive-compulsive part leaves off and the "I do 100 takes because I'm XXX and I CAN!" begins.

If you need to do that many takes of a scene, you either don't know what you're doing, or you don't know how to direct actors properly. Or your casting decisions are faulty.

Let's face it - Kubrick's films are full of badly exaggerated performances, including Nicholson in THE SHINING. His overacting ruins the movie, but it's exactly what Kubrick wanted.

by Anonymous

reply 69

05/23/2012

Otto Preminger was so hard on Tom Tryon during THE CARDINAL that Tryon stopped acting and started writing novels. Oddly enough he did do one more picture for Preminger, IN HARM'S WAY.

by Anonymous

reply 70

05/23/2012

EYES!! OPEN THEM WIDER JUDY!!! OPEN YOUR EYES!!

by Anonymous

reply 71

05/23/2012

[quote] While shooting numbers for BABES IN ARMS, STRIKE UP THE BAND and BABES ON BROADWAY, he would scream at Garland and Rooney "GOOGLE "EM!

Maybe he was just tired of her insistent questions and was telling Judy to use a search engine.

by Anonymous

reply 72

05/23/2012

Agreed R67. He's also a prissy, entitled little bitch who flounced and pouted when he didn't win for The Social Network.

by Anonymous

reply 73

05/23/2012

I may be wrong but didnt Buzz Berkeley choreograph Annie Get Your Gun? If so, it surely contributed to Judy's exit.

by Anonymous

reply 74

05/23/2012

R33 - [quote]Mankiewicz's reaction was a product of frustration trying to deal with Clift and his addictions and insecurities.

[quote]The accident he got into in the middle of filming was totally his fault; he was completely wasted. Some people even wondered later if it was a reckless suicide attempt.

Clift had his accident in the middle of filming "Raintree County," directed by Edward Dmytryk. According to the police report, there was no outward sign that he had been drinking, but may have been driving at excessive speed down the winding road. Clift biographer Patricia Bosworth also claimed that he wasn't drunk, but may have been exhausted after a long day of filming. Clift did not want to attend the gathering at Elizabeth Taylor's house but she kept pestering him to come.

by Anonymous

reply 75

05/24/2012

In Mankiewicz's defense, Montgomery Clift was a sullen, moody mess with major drug/alcohol issues so I'm sure Clift was no saint on that set.

by Anonymous

reply 76

05/24/2012

Wouldn't pretty much any movie Betty Bacall acted in fall under this category?

by Anonymous

reply 77

05/24/2012

Though Bacall was supposedly the scourge of Broadway, particularly during Woman of the Year and Waiting in the Wings, I've never heard of any problems with her on a movie set in all her long years of filmmaking.

Perhaps stage fright brings out the worst in her?

by Anonymous

reply 78

05/24/2012

"Otto Preminger was so hard on Tom Tryon during THE CARDINAL that Tryon stopped acting and started writing novels."

Tryon stopped acting because he was as animated as a wooden post and was generally conisdered a dull pretty boy. Preminger had some terrible taste in casting sometimes, putting vacuous performers like Tryon or Carol Lynley in leading roles.

by Anonymous

reply 79

05/24/2012

I have heard for years that Bacall is a royal pain in the ass...when you have so much beauty and success, shouldn't it make you generous?

She's probably just a mean drunk.

by Anonymous

reply 80

05/24/2012

I read that Sean Penn fell out with Terrence Malick over the latter's treatment of extras when filming 'Tree Of Life.' Penn said the extras had to stay immersed in the ocean or wait on the beach for hours, without refreshment. Malick was deaf to Penn's concerns.

Mark Rylance said in a recent interview that he felt misled and bullied by Patrice Chereau when filming 'Intimacy.' He shouldn't, Rylance said, have been made to feel 'bourgeois' for not wanting to film such explicit sex scenes. So now the great actor's hard-on is out there forever, against his better judgement.

Re: Kubrick and Duvall. I'm old, so saw the documentary by SK's daughter about 'The Shining' on BBC TV, when the film was just out. There was certainly footage of Kubrick on a phone laying into Duvall, saying the whole set was ready and waiting and she needed to get with it and do her job right now. So whatever the 'reasoning' was behind the harangue, the entire TV audience saw her humiliation too. Years later when I saw the documentary again, the sequence had been cut.

by Anonymous

reply 81

05/24/2012

I have a sneaking suspicion that most directors are rather abusive--particularly the old school "tough guys" but I'm sure there are just as many horrid women in Hollywood as men. It seems to be the nature of the game?

I can only hope that sort of authoritarian abuse dies off...in and out of Hollywood.

I do love Judy Davis giving as good as she got. LOL--that's how you handle a bully. Get right back in their faces. I knew there was a reason why I liked her.

Anyway, interesting thread.

by Anonymous

reply 82

05/24/2012

Douglas Sirk and Helen Lawson. She complained so much during filming "Don't Bother with a Mixer, I'll Cry in My Vodka" that the studio shelved it after firing Lawson and offering the role to Joan Crawford. Crawford wisely declined, saying "I don't even want to be in the same room as that nutbag cunt, let alone take her sloppy seconds!"

by Anonymous

reply 83

05/24/2012

Well, speaking of the fictional Helen Lawson, Patty Duke certainly didn't get along with VOTD director Mark Robson. She blamed him for causing her to head to the craft services table time and again, wolfing down doughnuts and other garbage, making her already chubby appearance turn positively bloated.

Robson was in charge of many big, successful films over the years from Peyton Place to Earthquake and seemed to get along with most of his stars, but Patty acted like he was Hitler reincarnated. (Maybe she was in the midst of her mental problems and projected a lot onto him that wasn't truly there?)

by Anonymous

reply 84

05/24/2012

R81, Penn is barely in TREE OF LIFE, so it looks like Malick "punished" him.

As for Rylance, it's hard to believe any claims about being "misled" unless Chereau made no mention of unsimulated sex scenes until well in the shooting. The "bullied" part I can believe, though. But Rylance and his co-star Kerry Fox could had simply refused as well. Frankly, the sex scenes in INTIMACY (the simulated and unsimulated) are so repetitive after a while that the film actually becomes rather dull.

As for Judy Davis, I don't imagine anyone is going to get away with pushing her around for long. And good for her.

by Anonymous

reply 85

05/24/2012

I would not trust anything that coked up woman-hitting POS Penn has to say r81.

Johnny Depp had a similar situation with Michael Mann during Public Enemies. Compounding the issue was Mann's 1st AD, a notorious asshole. Both Mann and the AD treated the extras like such shit, Depp apparently threatened to walk off set if things didn't change. They did.

Mann was in high dudgeon before principal photography anyway because that adaptation process was a clusterfuck.

by Anonymous

reply 86

05/24/2012

What's the story behind the feud between Steven Spielberg and Julia Roberts on the set of HOOK?

by Anonymous

reply 87

05/24/2012

Can someone start a thread on Nancy Olson? Is she still alive???? IMDB claims she was born in 1928.

by Anonymous

reply 88

05/24/2012

r87, the story I heard was she made that set a nightmare because she was hooked (no pun intended) on heroin at the time.

Lateness, nodding off, etc. compounded her usual diva behaviour.

It got so bad that Spielberg felt he was propping her up trying to get her through the performance at the expense of the rest of the film.

Don't know how true that was, as he's a hack, but that was the story.

by Anonymous

reply 89

05/24/2012

Madonna vs. Abbie Cornish (W.E.)

by Anonymous

reply 90

05/24/2012

Granted Spielberg, like every director, have their detractors but Spielberg is far from being a hack r89.

by Anonymous

reply 91

05/24/2012

No, r89 is right; Spielberg is complete hack and he's responsible for the dumbing down of American movies that has gotten worse and worse since the great stuff of the 70s. He should never be allowed anywhere near a set.

by Anonymous

reply 92

05/24/2012

Louis Malle vs. Juliette Binoche

by Anonymous

reply 93

05/24/2012

There were blind items that were talked about on DL for a time about Mr. Movie Star and Mr. Movie Maker. It was said that it was Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. In the items it was talked about that Mr. Movie Star was harassing and practically stalking Mr. Movie Maker's wife trying to get her into Scientology.

Mr. Movie Star even turned up at a party of Mr. Movie Maker's, don't remember if he was invited or not, and cornered the wife. Mr. Movie Maker got so angry other party goers had to get Mr. Movie Star out the door before Mr.MM got violent.

by Anonymous

reply 94

05/24/2012

Amen 92, amen.

by Anonymous

reply 95

05/24/2012

Diana Ross vs. Tony Richardson (Mahogany's original director)

by Anonymous

reply 96

05/24/2012

Didn't John Schlesinger on his deathbed blame Madonna for his heart attack? Didn't he die 4 mos later, never to see the premiere of this Oscar winning director's "The Next Best Thing"?

by Anonymous

reply 97

05/24/2012

There is at least one director who absolutely hates Judy Davis. She's hateful and goes out of her way to be rude and mean.

by Anonymous

reply 98

05/24/2012

Dennis Hopper vs. Jodie Foster

by Anonymous

reply 99

05/24/2012

R89 and R92 really didn't like Schindler's List.

by Anonymous

reply 100

05/24/2012

[quote]I can only hope that sort of authoritarian abuse dies off...in and out of Hollywood.

It's not the authoritarian assholes per se, though.

There are a lot of egos and assholes on movie sets, and not just the A-list actors, either.

Sometimes you need someone to come in and start kicking ass in order to wake everyone up. It takes enormous resources and people to make a movie, and someone has to be the General.

There's a good book on John Schlesinger that goes into his movies and feuds. He was not a pleasant person, but Madonna and Rupert Everett really treated him like shit.

Madonna refused to take any direction on NEXT BEST THING, which stunned him, since she wasn't the greatest actress. But he thought she had potential after seeing EVITA, which is why he agreed to work on the project. He didn't realize that she was stubborn in terms of being told what to do, and he quickly regretted his decision. At first he tried being kind, but as the days wore on, he got tired of trying to pacify her. He flat out stated she sucked which infuriated her. Towards the end of the shoot, Everett became the go between for the two of them.

Rupert Everett (who likes to blame Hollywood for a lack of work), was every bit the prima donna himself. He obviously enjoyed being Madonna's friend and the two would often be late or not bother showing up for the director's meetings because they were entertaining mutual friends in Madonna's trailer. It was obvious that the two of them had zero interest in making the film

Madonna has said that he was beyond cruel to her in terms of telling her that she couldn't act, but John was simply trying to get a decent performance out of her. She would blame him for her performance, saying that she couldn't act because she was too distracted and nervous.

by Anonymous

reply 102

05/24/2012

I'm no Jake fan by any means but what he said about Fincher just confirms what I've always thought about him. His movies are stylish, sleek pieces of emotional nothingness. My suspicion is that what he would really like to do, if it were possible, is to direct a beautifully filmed snuff movie. The only reason why he was so drawn to the Facebook story is that he and Zuckerberg share the same inability to relate to other people on any emotional level.

by Anonymous

reply 103

05/24/2012

I'm surprised about Schlesinger having a difficult rep beyond Madonna and Rupert. I always thought he came off as a kind and gentle man and a wonderful director of actors.

by Anonymous

reply 104

05/24/2012

r84 = Barbara Parkins. True Patty hate Mark and she did eat those donuts, but chubby she wasn't

by Anonymous

reply 105

05/24/2012

Otto Preminger and Tom Tryon

by Anonymous

reply 106

05/24/2012

[quote]No, [R89] is right; Spielberg is complete hack and he's responsible for the dumbing down of American movies that has gotten worse and worse since the great stuff of the 70s. He should never be allowed anywhere near a set.

Absolute nonsense. How intelligent were movies during the studio system?

by Anonymous

reply 107

05/24/2012

In William Goldman's book about being a screenwriter he talks about Schlessinger directing Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man and the scene called for Dustin's character to reach for a flashlight in the nightstand drawer when he hears someone breaking into his apartment. Dustin carried on and argued for over an hour that "his character would not have a flashlight next to his bed" He would not do the scene as written. Also Robert Redford sounds like a real jacka$$ in re to: the script for "All the Presidents Men" Goldman wrote and re-wrote the screenplay over and over meanwhile Redford was letting other people write it to see what they would come up with. The famous line "follow the money" was written by Goldman but they attributed it to nora ephron and some other dude.

by Anonymous

reply 108

05/24/2012

There's also a good line from Olivier to Hoffman in Goldman's book. During the filming of the Marathon Man, Hoffman had a scene where his character had been up all night, so Hoffman stayed up all night as he is 'method'. Olivier increduously asked him, 'have you ever heard of the concept of acting?'.

Method actors are complete nightmares to work with and usually psychotic. Christian Bale, anyone?

by Anonymous

reply 109

05/24/2012

[quote]Dustin carried on and argued for over an hour that "his character would not have a flashlight next to his bed"

I wonder if they used that incident when making "Tootsie".

If you recall, DHs character fought for an hour with the director of a commercial, saying his character, a tomato, wouldn't and couldn't sit.

by Anonymous

reply 110

05/24/2012

I finally watched "Tree of Life" on DVD. Did it really need to begin with 40 minutes of nature photography?

by Anonymous

reply 111

05/24/2012

John Schlessinger took Piper Laurie many times....and she liked it.

by Anonymous

reply 112

05/25/2012

Has ever a reputation disappeared (post-mortem) quite as completely Kubrick's??

by Anonymous

reply 113

05/25/2012

[quote]Absolute nonsense.

Gladys, such strong language!!!

by Anonymous

reply 114

05/25/2012

Kubrick is still revered by film-makers, R113. The poster who compared Nancy Myers to Kubrick needs to wash his mouth out with soap. Ed Wood is a more competent director than Myers.

by Anonymous

reply 115

05/25/2012

r113, part of that is because some of his best films were satirical. The context for these movies is not always known by subsequent generations, and a lot of the subtlety is lost.

I remember watching Strangelove twice, the second time after I'd read a lot of books on the era and the military/scientific leaders involved.

It totally changed the movie for me. I'll never forget how devastatingly cruel, but brutally accurate the von Neumann character was.

It's like cold-reading Dante. Impossible without context.

by Anonymous

reply 116

05/25/2012

Re: authoritarianism on set. When Nora Ephron was about to direct for the first time, she asked Mike Nichols for advice. He said, 'Fire someone on the first day.'

His example: on 'Virginia Woolf' some technician had been bad-mouthing Nichols behind the scenes on this, his first directing job. Of course it got back. So when the technician later said clearly in Nichols's hearing, 'Doesn't matter, it's just another movie', the director fired him on the spot.

Re: Rupert Everett; he also fell out with Mike Newell on 'Dance With A Stranger.' Apart from his general lack of co-operation he also contrived to run over the director's foot, twice. Everett tells the story in his couldn't-care-less memoir.

by Anonymous

reply 117

05/25/2012

The Shining is still watched by new generations.

by Anonymous

reply 118

05/25/2012

Peter Sellers v practically everyone he ever worked "with"

by Anonymous

reply 119

05/25/2012

"Everett tells the story in his couldn't-care-less memoir"

An attitude which, I suspect, effects his employ-ability in Hollywood more than his homosexuality...

The lack of talent, coupled with his "death-by-botox" lack of emotion, may also contribute

by Anonymous

reply 120

05/25/2012

Kate Winslet vs. James Cameron

Ed Harris and Mary Elizabet Mastrantonio vs. James Cameron

Debra Winger vs. everybody

Cher vs. whoever it was that directed Mermaids

by Anonymous

reply 121

05/25/2012

R108, I haven't read the book for a while, but didn't William Goldman make a point of noting - almost as a punchline - that Roy Scheider quietly stood by during Dustin Hoffman's inane monologue by about the torch? As in, this is what a real actor does.

by Anonymous

reply 122

05/25/2012

R105, I beg to differ. Duke was chubby and got close to fat by the end of the movie. She admitted this and blamed Robson. 4'7" people cannot eat junk food like hogs and maintain a figure.

by Anonymous

reply 123

05/25/2012

Yes, R122 - in a pointedly fascinating sideswipe at Hoffman...

by Anonymous

reply 124

05/25/2012

There are actors who are contrary simply for the sake of doing so. It's partly insecurity, partly a power play, partly resentment of authority figure.

There was a major blow-up between Raquel Welch and director James Ivory on the set of THE WILD PARTY. She fought him over almost any little thing, including which takes should be printed.

But it came to a head when he asked for a retake of a sexual scene and she demanded to know what was wrong with the take they just did. Ivory said the take was a bit boring.

Welch reared up and stalked off the set in a huff and refused to return until Ivory apologized to her in public. Ivory finally did, and apparently things went smoother afterwards.

His crime? Being too offhanded honest with a "star" (whose career was well in decline at that point - why else would she do a low-budget Merchant/Ivory film). Welch had a long-standing reputation as a pain in the ass diva, and her career sank completely soon after.

People like Welch think they're entitled to be treated with kid gloves. She had little acting talent.

The irony was, most people think she did her best work in this film, but the movie isn't good and it died at the boxoffice.

by Anonymous

reply 125

05/25/2012

"There is at least one director who absolutely hates Judy Davis. She's hateful and goes out of her way to be rude and mean."

Oh, bullshit. Links please. The only director who has trasher her is George Sluizer, who did the ill-fated movie DARK BLOOD with Davis and River Phoenix. Sluizer blamed Davis for Phoenix's overdose, which is insane. Sluizer is a hack who only did one good film - the original version of THE VANISHING.

I've never heard of anyone else saying they "hate" her. I'm sure she's no wallflower, but to assume she's a horrid person is just idiotic.

If she was such a pain in the ass, Woddy Allen wouldn't keep hiring her. Whatever you think of him, he's not one to put up with a diva.

by Anonymous

reply 126

05/25/2012

"Madonna vs. Abbie Cornish"

Details please. Cornish is a boring actress generally, but I would love to know more about their dealings with each other.

Clearly Andrea Riseborough figured out how to kiss Madge's ass. But AR is also a very good young actress.

by Anonymous

reply 127

05/25/2012

[quote]Method actors are complete nightmares to work with and usually psychotic. Christian Bale, anyone?

Bale is not a Method actor. He is a child actor who still acts like one, literally and figuratively.

by Anonymous

reply 128

05/25/2012

I heard that Jodie Foster had a terrible experience working with Mary Lambert on Siesta and vowed to never work with a female director again (kind of ironic since Jodie, herself, went onto direct several times). Jodie also had a terrible experience being directed by Dennis Hopper in Backtrack.

Helen was the first choice to play Mary Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life". She kept arguing about the script and storylines.

She kept insisting that the film would be "a hoot" if the pharmacist actually poisoned and killed the sick little boy.

Where George's suicide attempt was concerned, she was quoted as saying, "Jumping off of a bridge is fag stuff. Let George try to blow his brains out, instead. Then when that whore Violet comes to visit him in the ICU, I'll give that bitch a smack-down."

Helen and Capra had very,very different cinematic visions.

by Anonymous

reply 132

05/25/2012

What the fuck is R113 talking about?

by Anonymous

reply 133

05/25/2012

R130 = Sean Astin. Instead of lurking on DL trying to protect your fat, crazy mother's bygone reputation, why don't you try to figure out who your daddy is. She managed to screw several men at once during one of her loony binges (in-between eating.)

by Anonymous

reply 134

05/25/2012

r134 I see u are off your meds for the holiday weekend!!!

by Anonymous

reply 135

05/25/2012

Holy shit, I had no idea there was this much animosity between directors and actors. So many stories!

by Anonymous

reply 136

05/25/2012

It's rather self-explanatory R133. If you don't understand, perhaps a nice Katherine Heigl film is the best choice for you.

by Anonymous

reply 137

05/25/2012

r136, that's nothing compared to the animosity between directors and producers, and writers and directors. Well, writers and almost everyone, really. They are at the bottom of the above the line food chain.

Not to hijack the thread, but as an example, James Cameron dangled a producer over the edge of the Titanic set (basically a giant water tank) and told him to get the fuck off his set.

by Anonymous

reply 138

05/26/2012

Margaret Sullavan fought with a lot of her directors--she didn't think highly of movies (she much preferred to act on stage, and only did movies to make money and keep her name highly visible so she could get good Broadway roles), and often told her film directors she didn't think highly of their medium.

She really fought with William Wyler when they started work together on one of both of their best films, THE GOOD FAIRY. They decided to go to dinner together early during the filming to see if they could bury the hatchet, and then discovered themselves so attracted to each other they wound up getting married. But they didn't last very long as a couple. She was very highly strung and difficult, despite her enormous talent--of course, she wound up ultimately married to Leland Hayward (and then committing suicide).

by Anonymous

reply 139

05/26/2012

Debra Winger fought so bitterly with so many of her directors--and later so publicly disparaged their talents--that no one wanted to work with her anymore, despite her prodigious talents. Who wants to work with an asshole? She then later complained about not getting any good work in Hollywood, but she did it to herself. The same thing is true for Val Kilmer: he screwed himself out of getting good work anymore by being so mean.

by Anonymous

reply 140

05/26/2012

[quote]During the filming of the Marathon Man, Hoffman had a scene where his character had been up all night, so Hoffman stayed up all night as he is 'method'. Olivier increduously asked him, 'have you ever heard of the concept of acting?'.

Olivier's scathing line to Hoffman as I've always heard that story was, "My dear boy, why not try acting?"

by Anonymous

reply 141

05/26/2012

Winger might have had a point. She certainly did with the Officer and a Gentleman shoot.

Sharon Stone is a world-class cunt on shoots, but she was absolutely right about picking a fight on Casino.

She was being left out of important meetings between "the guys" that would directly impact her character and how it was played. She supposedly walked into Scorcese's trailer and told them she needed to be included and outlined her reasons. He agreed.

by Anonymous

reply 142

05/26/2012

bump

by Anonymous

reply 143

05/26/2012

Cher and Peter Bogdanovich on the set of MASK. I think both said publicly that they would never work with the other again.

Relations between director Susan Seidelman and stars Rosanna Arquette and Madonna were frosty at best on the set of DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN. Arquette stated that she gave Seidelman a lesson on how to deal with actors and Madonna was just acting like a spoiled brat who couldn't deal with the waiting that happens during movie-making.

Seidelman is, in fact, talent-free based on her subsequent films, the awful MAKING MR. RIGHT, COOKIE and SHE-DEVIL. Arquette must have been a major pain in the ass to others as her career sank years ago.

by Anonymous

reply 144

05/26/2012

It's a given that Madonna acted like a child...what else does a spoiled brat do?

by Anonymous

reply 145

05/26/2012

But how many directors had affairs with their stars and how did it effect the shoot?

by Anonymous

reply 146

05/26/2012

r75, it was pills, not booze. I should have made that clear.

His substance abuse escalated after the accident, particularly his drinking.

I remember one anecdote where some sick fuck sent him a card with several different pills attached and he knew instantly what they all were.

According to the story, he was picking them off like candy and taking them.

by Anonymous

reply 147

05/27/2012

Julia acted like a whore on set, as usual, Steven doesnt like trash on his set. He has class and doesnt like sleezy stuff. Julia is a first class sleeze. Also Julia thought her shit didnt stink, like Steven was lucky to have her and she was the crown jewel of the movie and the reason people would spend money to see it. Julia acts as though is was too many pills she was taking at the time to try to deflect responsibility and pretend like she is really a wonderful person and it was just a one time thing. HA! I wish internet had been around back in the 90's when JR was coming up in Hollwood, she never would have made it. the most useless overpaid horrible indecent skank.

by Anonymous

reply 148

11/11/2012

I can confirm what R142 said. Stone stayed in touch with Scorsese after the shoot. She was grateful for the opportunity, after all.

by Anonymous

reply 149

11/11/2012

Harrison Ford's feud with Ridley Scott on Blade Runner was also legendary. Never had anything good to say about each other

by Anonymous

reply 150

11/11/2012

R144 = Patty's bitter unhinged British identical cousin, Kathy.

by Anonymous

reply 151

11/11/2012

Excellent thread, OP! Like the DL of old. Keep 'em comin'.

by Anonymous

reply 152

11/11/2012

[quote]Didn't John Schlesinger on his deathbed blame Madonna for his heart attack? Didn't he die 4 mos later, never to see the premiere of this Oscar winning director's "The Next Best Thing"?

Schlesinger died in 2003, three years after "The Next Best Thing," so that can't be true.

by Anonymous

reply 153

11/12/2012

Oh my. This made me laugh:

[quote]The tension between Polanski and his star boiled over in a notorious incident that the film’s cinematographer, John Alonzo, described to Biskind thus: There was a scene where she gets in the car after seeing her daughter, and Jack is in the car waiting for her and scares the shit out of her… She kept saying to Roman, ‘Roman, I have to pee. I have to pee.’ ‘No. No. You stay there. Johnny, you ready?’ I said, ‘I’m ready.’ ‘You stay there. We shoot, we shoot.’ And then he said, ‘Roll the window down. I got to talk to you. You’re turning too far right. Don’t look at Jack, just look ahead.’ Then she threw a coffee-cup full of liquid in Roman’s face. He said, ‘You c***, that’s piss!’ And she said, ‘Yes, you little putz,’ and rolled the window up.” Point, Dunaway.

by Anonymous

reply 154

11/12/2012

One actress Cukor did not adore or get on with was French star Anouk Aimee on JUSTINE in 1969 - Cukor was brought in by Fox to save the film, the orignal director had been sacked after Anouk spending 2 months on location in Tunisia, then the movie was reshot on the Fox backlot. Anouk was a huge international star by then but had just got involved with Albert Finney and wanted to be with him and had no interest in making Justine, so she and Cukor hated each other.

Ironically she was at a restored screening of Justine in New York 2 weeks ago, she is 80 now and still looks good.

Cukor was not very good for Monroe either, directing her last 2 at Fox: the damp squib Lets Make Love and uncompleted Somethings Gotta Give - he had no time or patience with Marilyn's problems and later said he thought she was mad. He preferred tough dames like Kate Hepburn or Crawford.

by Anonymous

reply 155

11/12/2012

[quote]Cukor was not very good for Monroe either, directing her last 2 at Fox: the damp squib Lets Make Love and uncompleted Somethings Gotta Give - he had no time or patience with Marilyn's problems and later said he thought she was mad. He preferred tough dames like Kate H

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